VZCZCXRO0592
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHMV #0612/01 2371349
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251349Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY MONROVIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1253
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MONROVIA 000612 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAIR LI
SUBJECT: LOCKHEED MARTIN INKS MANAGEMENT DEAL FOR LIBERIA'S AIRPORT 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Lockheed Martin has signed a limited-liability 
six-month contract with the Ministry of Transport to manage Roberts 
International Airport (RIA), enhance safety and security procedures, 
and develop ancillary revenue streams.  While the existing agreement 
promises limited profits for Lockheed, company officials believe it 
could afford them exclusive access to an airport on the rise, if 
Delta Airlines begins direct flights or AFRICOM transfers its 
headquarters to Monrovia.  At the same time, the President signed 
the long-awaited Liberian Airport Authority Act, which empowers the 
Liberian Civil Aviation Authority to manage RIA, and should make 
implementation of International Civil Aviation Organization 
standards easier.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------ 
The First of Many 
------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Econoffs met August 19 with Michael O'Toole, senior program 
manager for air operations at Lockheed Martin, and James Ebanks, 
project manager for Roberts International Airport (RIA), to discuss 
the company's August 15 contract to manage RIA.  Lockheed Martin and 
the Ministry of Transport signed a six-month "purchase order," which 
is more modest in scope than a formal management contract and limits 
Lockheed's liability in the event of safety or security issues.  The 
contract is two-pronged: Lockheed Martin will improve the physical 
security and safety at RIA while developing a strategy to market the 
airport and identify new business lines. 
 
¶3. (SBU) President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf signed the much-anticipated 
Liberian Airport Authority Act August 19, which grants the Liberian 
Civil Aviation Authority oversight of RIA and, implicitly, the right 
to grant a concession.  But after the legislation languished for 
months in the National Legislature, Lockheed Martin and the GOL 
opted to circumvent the LCAA's limited authority by creating a 
purchase order for services rendered.  Further, Lockheed's risk 
management team urged the company to minimize its exposure to an 
uncertain market by making modest commitments on a short-term basis. 
 O'Toole anticipated that if all goes well, Lockheed would renew the 
purchase order and ultimately sign a long-term management contract. 
 
 
--------------- 
RIA Tomorrow 
--------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Lockheed's entire management team, which will consist of no 
more than two people at a time, began work August 15 by announcing a 
list of "90-day deliverables": improvements to cargo handling, 
baggage screening, security screening, emergency response training 
and customer service.  Ebanks, who was the deputy manager of 
Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport until early August, said 
initial procedural and policy reforms will have one aim: 
implementation of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) 
standards and the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) 
approval of a direct flight from the United States.  With 
appropriate guidance and training, RIA will be able to accommodate a 
direct U.S. flight before the holiday season, he predicted. 
 
¶5. (SBU) A potential Delta Airlines flight is only the first step in 
Lockheed's ambitious vision for RIA.  O'Toole admitted that Lockheed 
Martin already has invested nearly $1 million in travel, staffing 
and feasibility studies, a sum the existing purchase order will not 
fully offset.  Instead, Lockheed Martin views the purchase order as 
a gateway into lucrative business ventures at RIA. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Lockheed intends to market RIA as a regional hub, 
increasing revenue through airport and passenger fees.  O'Toole said 
both Emirates and Royal Jordanian Airlines have told Lockheed Martin 
they may commence direct flights to Monrovia, should the Delta 
flight prove successful.  And future revenue need not be limited to 
commercial travel.  Lockheed believes RIA could become a regional 
distribution center for cargo, supplanting the Freeport of Monrovia 
as the entry point for capital equipment and vehicles.  Cargo 
storage, airplane maintenance and the leasing of airport space and 
storage to other corporate entities are other potential business 
lines.  Finally, Lockheed still believes Liberia will host an 
AFRICOM presence and plans to be prepared to serve the mission with 
aviation services. 
 
 
----------------------------------- 
The Characters of Liberian Aviation 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU)  O'Toole, who has visited Liberia over a dozen times in the 
past three years, offered a candid assessment of the conflicting 
personalities who govern - and occasionally obstruct - Liberia's 
civil aviation industry.  O'Toole characterized LCAA Director 
General Richelieu Williams as an overconfident man, quick to bear 
grudges over perceived slights to his authority, who possesses a 
naive conviction that a warm bilateral relationship and President 
Sirleaf's stature in the United States will outweigh security or 
 
MONROVIA 00000612  002 OF 002 
 
 
safety concerns in TSA's decision to grant Delta's direct flight to 
Monrovia (although he may be coming around to seeing reality). 
Williams is frustrated in his belief that TSA holds him unjustly 
accountable for the airport: without the Airport Authority Act, he 
might persuade or cajole, but could not enforce reform at RIA. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Williams, a former Lockheed employee, enthusiastically 
welcomed Lockheed, and assured Econoff during a conversation August 
7 that their presence would help ensure the Delta flight.  However, 
Acting RIA Managing Director Bill Jones objects to Lockheed's 
presence, preferring to retain the airport in Liberian hands. 
O'Toole believes Jones, an old friend of President Sirleaf, attempts 
to sideline Williams, and while their rivalry has impeded reforms in 
the past, it came to a head over the passage of the Airport 
Authority Act, a crucial pre-requisite for TSA's approval of the 
Delta flight.  The President delayed signing the legislation after 
Jones attempted to persuade her to eliminate the LCAA's seat on the 
Liberian Airport Authority. 
 
¶9. (SBU) O'Toole characterized Bill Jones as a skilled civil 
engineer with the ability to "get the job done."  Lockheed Martin, 
cautious not to make enemies by exercising its new authority too 
bluntly, is determined to bring Jones to the table and use his 
expertise to enhance security and improve logistics at RIA. 
 
¶10. (SBU)  COMMENT: Lockheed Martin's frank information sharing and 
eager outreach to Post is a welcome signal that LCAA will begin to 
comply with TSA recommendations rather than finding ways to 
circumvent the process.  Both the Secretary in her visit and CODEL 
Butterfield (especially Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, a member of the 
House Committee on Homeland Security) made clear that while the USG 
is interested in assisting the GOL in accelerating its efforts for 
RIA to become compliant, the USG will not ignore security.  These 
positive interventions have helped move the GOL.  While it remains 
to be seen whether Lockheed Martin can implement its ambitious 
timetable, it is certain that upcoming TSA delegations will receive 
a warm welcome and helpful support from an airport manager 
determined to reconcile competing personalities in the service of a 
shared interest. 
 
ROBINSON